Level 7
Developing Practical Knowledge in Dance (PK)
Students will extend their dance skills in the vocabulary, practice, and technology of at least one selected dance form.
Developing Ideas in Dance (DI)
Students will initiate and develop dance works that use choreographic devices, processes, and structures and appropriate technologies to express ideas.
Students will record dance to support the development and resolution of dance ideas.
Communicating and Interpreting in Dance (CI)
Students will prepare, rehearse, and perform a range of dance works.
Students will use critical analysis to inform, interpret, and respond to their own and others' dance performances and dance works.
Understanding Dance in Context (UC)
Students will research the effects of individual, social, and cultural influences on the purposes and forms of dance.
Students will research how technologies influence the production and performance of dance works in contemporary contexts.
Learning Examples
- Select and research traditional dances appropriate for performance at an interschool cultural festival. Extend practical knowledge of the dances by participating in a series of workshops with tutors who specialise in the dance forms. Learn the dances, and use video recordings of rehearsals to refine the performances. Research the traditional materials and the construction of the dress, props, and facial or body adornments for the dances. Investigate how alternative materials and products may be used to produce the same effect while maintaining the cultural integrity of the dance. Perform the dances at the festival and present a written or oral report on the experience, including analysis of the other dance performances viewed. (PK, UC, CI)
- Discuss the language and approaches used by reviewers and critics in reviewing dance. View a live or recorded dance. Critically analyse the dance and present a written or oral review of both the work and the performance. Compare this review with a review of the same dance by an established dance reviewer or critic. (CI)
- Investigate and discuss the effect of music videos on dance in present-day society. Analyse the ways in which dance is used in the genre, and discuss the influence on dance of the camera and editing techniques (e.g., jump cuts, time manipulation). Use an image or movement excerpt from a music video as the stimulus for developing and performing an original group dance. (UC, DI, CI, PK)
- View a live or recorded dance performance and discuss the ways in which lighting or costumes contributed to its presentation. Explore and learn about lighting or costume design appropriate for dance (e.g., the effectiveness of sidelighting versus backlighting, the use of coloured materials and different fabrics). Using this experience, identify ways in which lighting or costumes may be used to enhance the presentation of original dances being prepared for performance. (CI, UC)
- Identify and view live or recorded dance performances that are by New Zealand choreographers and companies and that reveal the influence of Māori or Pacific dance. Critically analyse and respond to the works viewed and discuss the influences of Māori and Pacific dance on the development of contemporary dance in New Zealand. (CI, UC)
- Discuss the safe ways of giving and receiving another dancer's weight. Explore the skills and technique of weight bearing with a partner and compose a dance, about harmony and conflict, that uses weight bearing as a central device. Perform the dance for others. Analyse and evaluate the dance, focusing specifically on how harmony and conflict are expressed through partnering techniques. Research the origins of contact improvisation and the influence of its key exponents on its development as a genre of contemporary dance. (PK, DI, CI, UC)
- Explore the vocabulary, practices, and technologies of a selected dance form. Choreograph a dance in the selected form and, at appropriate intervals, video work in progress to assist in refining the choreography and performance of the work. Research, identify, and incorporate appropriate production technologies to enhance the choreographic intent of the work. Perform the dance and evaluate the strengths and limitations of the performance. (PK, DI, UC, CI)
- Research the ways in which selected dance forms have evolved due to the influence of individuals (e.g., Louis XIV on ballet, Isadora Duncan on modern dance), social movements (e.g., Christianity on the dances of Polynesia), or cultural factors (e.g., martial arts on the Brazilian capoeira). Share findings in an oral presentation to the class. (UC)
- Choreograph a solo dance work on the theme of identity. Select an approach (e.g., personal autobiography, the broad concept of identity) and research and gather appropriate information (e.g., visual images, reflections, interviews, stories). Using this information, improvise and develop movement material and, within an appropriate dance form, select and use a range of choreographic devices, a suitable structure, and relevant technologies (e.g., props) to choreograph the solo dance. (PK, DI)
- Research the ways in which dance is recorded using codified systems (e.g., Labanotation, Benesch notation) and non-codified systems (e.g., graphic notation). Use graphic notation to assist with the development of an original dance and to record the final choreography. (UC, DI)
